Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts
by Maeve Morgan
Summary: One question. A Hogsmeade date. Feelings changed. A developing romance. Broken bonds. Shattered friendships. The intricacies of adolescence. Set in Marauders’ 6th year. A RemusLily romance.
1. Good Morning, Sunshine

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general are merely a lend. I only own the plotline and the original characters.

A.N.: Previously, I had stated this is a prequel to "Heartily Surprising". Well, I've changed my mind. It's not. Although there are elements that relate to my other fic, it should do well to stand on its own, and now I already know where this is heading.

Featuring: Confused Lily and Baffled Roommates.

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**  
Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts**

**  
1. Good Morning, Sunshine**

It was a lovely morning. Lily always liked mornings. She'd lay in bed sometimes, usually at lazy Sundays, watching the sky just outside the window through the hangings of her four-post. She'd feel as though time would hold still as the colours would first get darker, then the growing sunlight would slowly start to take over. In some instances, she had watched the full moon, bright and shiny, set on the horizon at same time the sun would be coming up. Being on a Tower that faced west had its advantages other than beautiful sunsets.

This morning, however, was not such an occurrence. Because she was quite suddenly brought back to consciousness from a rather enjoyable dream in a most abrupt manner.

"What the—" she muttered as the hangings of her bed were loud and forcibly pulled open, and the glaring morning light met her face.

"Well, Ms Evans," said a voice she vaguely recognized at the given moment, "let me ask you this: Do you _not_ like the peaceful state of things of our House, by any chance?"

"What?" She asked stupidly, blinking several times. It was a few moments before her eyes adjusted themselves to the different intensity of light and she could make out the person in front of her. Standing there with arms crossed, a dangerously raised eyebrow and a trademark glare on her face was Bel Carlyle.

"Bel, what are you talking about?" She questioned, pushing herself up so she could sit. She did so in part because something told her she'd be able to make sense of what her friend was saying then. Admittedly, her brain was not at its best concerning logic in abrupt confrontations. Another reason was that she was feeling quite intimidated with the brunette towering over her. She figured it would give her some leverage. She was wrong.

"Do you _not_ like the peace in our House, I wonder?" Bel questioned once more.

"Why ever would I not?" Lily replied with uttermost shock in her voice. Glancing around, she noticed her other roommates were still in bed, and had been woken up by this sudden disturbance as well. "Why? What happened? And what time is it?"

"Or maybe," Bel continued, ignoring her friend completely. "_Maybe_ you have a death wish."

"_What_!" Lily exclaimed, now fully awake, her green eyes widening. "What the hell are you talking about?" She no longer felt intimidated by her apparently very irked friend. She was still confused, that's true, but she was feeling her temper rise again. It had been a while they hadn't had an argument, but it was all coming back to her. It was like riding a bike. Or a broomstick.

"Because, I wonder now," at this, Bel started pacing up and down in front of her bed, gesticulating with her hands. "Why ever would Lily Evans choose to do something as stupid as this? Certainly she must be trying to pick things up a notch, I said, or else she's gone completely insane and is trying to kill herself and everyone else in Gryffindor."

The other occupants of one of the sixth year girls' dormitory were as confused as the baffled redhead. Lily vaguely noticed them discussing it amongst themselves.

"What's happening now?"

"I don't know. What was that she said?"

"Bel's gone crazy again…"

The brunette paid them no attention and continued talking. "Then there's the possibility this is all an evil and ingenious plot she concocted, I thought. In that case," she stopped pacing, and faced Lily once more with a very confused and hurt expression, "why didn't you tell me about it?"

"What?" Lily said exasperatedly, still trying to understand her rather tiresome friend. "What in Merlin's name are you talking about?"

"I could've helped you, if that's the case," Bel said, sitting down on Lily's bed suddenly. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Cymbeline Eleanor Carlyle!" Another voice shouted across the room, and the brunette blinked her brown eyes in surprise, turning around. "Tell us what the bloody hell you're ranting about this instant or I'll be forced to hex you into next week and never know what's the insanity of the hour!"

Lily was very thankful someone else had managed to get around Bel in one of her ranting attacks. It was a hard thing to accomplish once the girl got to a state of craziness such as this one.

"I'll tell what's happening, Marlene Evelyn McKinnon," Bel said, once more getting up and walking towards the other brunette while shaking a finger at her. "We're on the verge of disaster, that's what, and it's all Lily Angelica Evans' fault!"

"Still not making sense," Marlene said, also glaring and crossing her arms over her chest. Even sitting on her own four-post, Marlene looked as intimidating and imposing as their crazed friend, Lily noticed. Of course, that could be counted out to Marlene being taller than Lily. Hmm.

"She has just made an action that will possibly turn our House into the terms that defined Slytherin House in our second year," Bel said. "Utter chaos."

"Bel, small words, finished thoughts, and do make some sense please," Dawn Sinclair called from her bed, where she was massaging her temples. All the shouting and confusion must have given her a headache.

"What happened in Slytherin in our second year?" Heather Redgrave questioned, walking back into the room from the bathroom.

"And what have I possibly done?" Lily demanded, getting up from her bed to stand as well.

"Second year?" Marlene considered it for a moment. "Well, I remember there was some problem with one of the Slytherin prefects, maybe. Or was it…"

"Oh you know what you did," Bel retorted, raising an eyebrow at the redhead. "Unless someone was using Imperius on you last night after doing your rounds, you should know what you did and the consequences it will bring."

"You don't remember, Heather?" Dawn said, stopping her massage. "It really was utter chaos. The Head Girl, who was a Slytherin, had run off and gotten married to her boyfriend on the first Hogsmeade weekend. It wouldn't have been such a big issue if the new husband in question wasn't a Gryffindor. I remember the Houses were fighting the entire year. Well, not that we don't fight normally. What were their names again…?"

"Last night?" Lily questioned faintly. "When did you—How could you possibly know already?"

"Oh right," Marlene said, nodding her head. "Andromeda Black and Ted Tonks. I remember things heated up quickly, Dumbledore had to get her out of Slytherin and give her and Tonks a private chamber or else she'd certainly be murdered in her sleep."

"I just went for a morning stroll and I heard it from the Fat Lady," Bel said, raising her eyebrows significantly at Lily. "And I'm certainly not the only one she told."

"Black? Is she related to Sirius?" Heather asked curiously.

"Yes, they're cousins, I think," Dawn said.

"By lunchtime, the entire Hogwarts will know you asked out one of the Marauders," Bel finished triumphantly.

"Whoa! Hold it right there!" Marlene exclaimed, interrupting the side conversation about their tumultuous second year. "You did what, Lily?"

"She asked out one of the Marauders," Bel answered with a smirk.

"You finally accepted to go out with James?" Heather questioned in disbelief.

"Why?" Dawn added with something like disappointment, disgust and morbid curiosity.

"_She_ asked him out. And no, not James," Bel said, shaking her head. "Worse, actually. It was Remus Lupin."

"Remus Lupin?" Marlene repeated in disbelief.

"Remus _prefect_ Lupin?" Heather asked with surprise.

"Remus _one of James's best friends_ Lupin?" Dawn added in awe.

"The one and only," Bel nodded her head.

The silence that followed was one of the most uncomfortable these five girls had ever endured, at least for Lily it was. When they finally regained their speech abilities, she was not pleased with their reactions.

"And what did he say?" Marlene questioned, attentively watching the redhead's face.

"Well, he said yes," Lily replied, glancing around at each of her friends.

"You're right," Heather said quietly. "Your crazy moment was justifiable, Bel."

"Oh you're all insane," Lily said exasperatedly. "What's wrong with that, exactly?"

"You truly do not comprehend the consequences of your actions, do you?" Bel said in slight disbelief.

"This is bad," Marlene said, shaking her head slowly. "This is really bad. You have to tell me what happened exactly. _You_ asked him out? Not him?"

"No, I'm sure _I_ asked him out," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And I don't see why I should tell you anything. It was a private moment."

"And I, for one, simply adored that you did it," Dawn said, jumping up from bed and walking to the bathroom. "That will finally be the end of those irritating self-called Marauders."

"The end?" Lily questioned, utterly confused. "How Remus and I going out on date in Hogsmeade will end the Marauders?"

"You mean you didn't plan it?" Dawn asked, her blonde head appearing on the doorway. "Dear Lord. What is to be of this world when our most intelligent girl of the year is a complete daft?"

"Hey! I resent that!" Lily exclaimed, putting both hands on her waist.

"Good. You should, as I meant it as an offence," Dawn replied, shutting the door behind her back.

"In my opinion, you're all blowing this completely out of proportion," Lily said, turning her back to them and going about her early morning affairs.

"No you will not get out of this so easily!" Marlene exclaimed, stopping her friend, dragging her back to her own bed. "Please, Lily. You have to tell me what happened."

"Laney, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you fancy Remus and that you, in fact, are bothered that I asked him out," Lily said with an arched eyebrow.

"Don't be silly," the brunette said dismissively, rolling her blue eyes. "I just want to know what led you to do it."

"That's true," Heather said. "You never told us you fancied him."

"Well," at this, the girl blushed slightly. "I've always… liked him. I just never really considered him because he's a Marauder, for Merlin's sake! But, I thought, he is a prefect for a reason, right?"

"Yeah, to try to control his idiotic friends," Dawn shouted from the bathroom.

"And he's not very successful at that," Bel added.

"Nonetheless," Lily glared slightly at the bathroom door and at her friends, "I've never had what should be called good relationships with the opposite sex, make them platonic or not. But Remus is someone I can talk to, strangely enough. And last night, after we did our rounds, I just felt I should go with the moment. So I asked if he had any plans for the Hogsmeade weekend, and he said, "Yes, I'm going to Hogsmeade", with a cheeky little grin, and I proposed we went together."

"Did you clarify it was a date?" Marlene questioned in a business-like tone.

"It is a date, right?" Bel asked.

"Yes, it's a date, and yes, he knows," Lily answered. "I do admit he seemed a bit surprised, but he recovered quickly and said he'd love to." She paused, looking at the girls. "So I don't know what is the problem here. I asked him, he agreed, end of story."

"The problem is not you asking Remus out," Marlene explained as if she would to a very small and dense child. "What matters is that he said yes."

"And that he is one of James's best friends!" Bel exclaimed exasperatedly.

"I know who he is," Lily said, quite impatiently. "You're all just repeating facts we all know, and it's getting tiring. Do make your point, please."

"Oh for the love of Godric Gryffindor," Dawn called, yanking the bathroom door open and storming into the room. "He is James's best friend! They're mates! Remus agreed to go on a date with you, and James is desperately in love with you!"

The redhead blinked her green eyes twice before this sudden outburst. Then she started laughing. She laughed until she was rolling on top of Marlene's bed, banging her hand on the mattress and gasping for air. She continued with this fit of laughter till she nearly fell out of bed.

"You're joking, right?" She exclaimed, wiping away the tears in her eyes. "James big-headed Potter? In love with me?"

"Oh Merlin," Dawn simply said, raising her left hand and again massaging her temple. "I can't do this anymore. You deal with her now." With that, she walked straight back into the bathroom.

"She's delusional!" Lily continued, her tone one of deep disbelief. "She's gone off her rocker, hasn't she?" She asked, turning to the others.

"I'm thinking you did," Marlene said archly.

"What?" She said, enormously surprised.

"Lily, what she said is quite true," Heather said. "We all know James is horribly in love with you."

"Oh and he certainly demonstrates this nicely enough, using me as the receiving end of his pranks and embarrassing me in front of the entire Hogwarts," Lily huffed in annoyance.

"My dear, that's what boys do when they're infatuated," Marlene said. "They act even more stupid, and immature, and rude. They're idiotic to the extreme because they don't know how to act, how to deal with their feelings."

"That's all very psychological, I believe," Lily assented. "I would even buy what you're selling if not for the fact that Potter is one of the biggest prats and Casanovas of this school. I mean, honestly! Only Black dates more girls than he does!"

"One more reason for him to act like this," Bel said, and all girls turned puzzled eyes to her. "I imagine what he feels for you is different than for the other girls. But he only knows how to treat girls… well, like he usually does. And I think he realizes you are much more than just one more girl. He doesn't want to use you like the others, and doesn't know how to act, and so ends up being a stupid git."

"Like when he asked me out in front of our entire year after hanging Snape upside-down?" Lily said sarcastically.

"Precisely," Bel nodded her head.

"This is stupid," Lily said with a final tone in her voice. "I'm sure Potter does not even fancy me, less alone to be desperately in love with me. He only asks me out because he knows I'll say no (and he can't stand that), and so he chooses to humiliate me in front of everybody. Now, I will not let your overactive imaginations ruin what could be my first decent chance at a good relationship with a boy I like."

Lily stood up after saying this, and walked back to her trunk. Bel turned an indignant expression from the prefect to Marlene, who only shrugged in response. She then glared at the redhead with annoyance and stalked into the bathroom as Dawn came out, muttering about denial, disaster, and murder.

The girls went about their morning affairs as normally after that. Only Lily was distracted, thinking her friends were probably insane. Well, she always knew they weren't exactly normal.

James Potter fancying me, she thought. Imagine that! I'm certain it's all wishful thinking on their part. I'm positive nothing disastrous will happen. For Merlin's sake, it's only a date in Hogsmeade!

As they walked to the Great Hall for breakfast sometime later, she still had no idea how wrong she was.

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A.N.: So here is the first part! Please, tell me what you think of it. 


	2. Night and Day

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general are merely a lend. I only own the plotline and the original characters.

A.N.: Hey! I'm back with part two of the story. In here, we'll actually go back to the night before chapter one and see what happened after Lily and Remus parted ways. And yes, what shall be the other Marauders' reactions to the news of their date.

Featuring: Oh-So-Distressed/Adorable Remus, Confused-and-Panicky Peter, Not-So-Serious Sirius, Unpredictable James, Unidentified Students of Hogwarts, and Charming Lily.

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**  
Five Days That Shocked Hogwarts**

**  
2. Night and Day**

"I am an idiot."

Glancing over the top of his _Wizards Sports Illustrated_, Peter Pettigrew watched as one Remus Lupin closed the door of their dormitory behind his back and stared out the window into the night, apparently petrified in his spot where he stood.

"No you're not," the shorter blonde boy replied with a note of confusion in his voice, and added matter-of-factly. "If that was the case, you'd be in detention with Prongs and Padfoot tonight, but here you are, in the safety and comfort of our room."

"You don't understand," Remus let out a weak sigh, covering his face with one of his hands. "I am the biggest, idiotic, stupid git to walk this earth!"

"I think you're being melodramatic," Peter said with a frown from where he sat on his bed. "Quite frankly, that suits Sirius best."

"And no, I actually think I'm worse than that," he continued, ignoring his little friend. "I'm a horrible, _horrible_ person."

"Will you quit insulting yourself already and tell me what happened?" His friend said, putting aside his magazine and watching in mild-amusement as Remus started pacing up and down the length of their dormitory.

"I'm taking Lily to Hogsmeade on a date, that's what happened," Remus said. "Or rather, it's what _will_ happen."

"Wait, what? Which Lily?" Peter said with a strained voice. "Tell me we're talking about that fifth-year Elizabeth Montgomery from Ravenclaw that everyone calls Lily."

"Unfortunately, no, it isn't," Remus said, glancing at his friend. "It's _the_ Lily Evans, who I've just finished doing rounds with, by the way. Do you think this is bad?" He turned hopeful blue eyes to him.

"Bad?" Peter replied with wide eyes, a note of hysteria in his voice. "Bad is good for you! James will murder you, that's what'll happen!"

"If that's the case, then I won't be alive to take Lily out on a date and everything will be fine," Remus replied quietly.

"That's very twisted logic, and a very Sirius thing to say," Peter declared. "Are you channelling Padfoot or something? Because this is getting weird," he added, getting up and stopping Remus from pacing. "Are you serious? You asked out Lily on a date? What were you thinking?"

"I wasn't!" He cried out defensively. "And actually, I _didn't_ ask her out. _She_ did!"

"Who asked you out?"

The duo turned and saw James and Sirius enter their dormitory, tossing their cloaks onto their beds and regarding them curiously. Peter instantly started to inch away from Remus.

"No one," the latter said rapidly.

"Oh no," Sirius declared good-naturedly. "A young lady asked you out, from what we could get, and we want to know who so we can tease you mercilessly till the day you die."

"And we also need to make adequate plans to sabotage said date," James added with a mischievous grin.

Remus appreciated the irony of James's use of that phrase as he watched Peter turn around and head back to the safety of his own bed. _Traitor_, he thought as he glared half-heartedly after him.

"Come on, Moony," Sirius continued, in what he hoped was a persuasive manner. "We will find out eventually, after all it's certainly a Hogsmeade date to take place in two days, am I right?"

Yes, as usual Sirius was right. In less than two days, actually. There it was: A big, dreadful, potentially fatal Hogsmeade weekend looming over their peaceful and joyful lives.

"Yes," he sighed in defeat. "It's a Hogsmeade date. On Saturday."

"And?" James added anxiously.

"We promise we won't ruin anything," Sirius added with a wink. "We'll even help, since your last few relationships weren't exactly successful."

"Wait, we'll help? I didn't agree to that," James said with a playful frown, but then sobered up and turned back to Remus. "Seriously, why won't you tell us?"

"I fear what you two consider 'help'," Remus replied, raising a sceptical eyebrow at them.

"Well, you are talking with two of the most eligible bachelors of Hogwarts," Sirius countered, filling his chest up and throwing back his head casually, even as James ran his hand through his ever messy and unruly hair.

"And most people wonder why the 'bachelor' part in your title," Remus said, sarcastically rolling his eyes at them. "Look, I appreciate all this, but I don't need any help, or advises, or anything." This whole thing is already a mess without that, he added privately.

"All right, we'll stop," James said, raising his hands in defeat. "But please do tell us who she is, or we'll… interrupt the date when it comes and tell her about your furry little problem!" He said with a grin. Remus stared back at him without batting an eyelash. "You know we wouldn't, but I had to try that."

"If I'm not mistaken, she already knows about it," Remus said thoughtfully.

"She does?" Sirius turned back in surprise. "But then… the only other person that knows is… Marlene McKinnon asked you out!"

"No," Remus sighed deeply. "Her best friend did."

The other three boys in the dormitory exchanged confused glances (Remus wondered why Peter took part in that seeing as he already knew who the girl in question was). It was a well-known fact that James Potter was one of Marlene's best and oldest friends.

"Her _female_ best friend," Remus clarified, constraining himself from rolling his eyes at them.

"Lily?" James said, his voice a little high with surprise.

"Yes," Remus said, expecting some explosive and indignant reaction from his best friend. Several questions and explanations were running through his brain this instant, but he thought best to hold his tongue and await for what he had to say.

Instead, it was Sirius Black who turned to speak. "Wait, Lily Evans asked you out on a date? When did this happen? And what did you say?" He said, his voice and expression turning into a dark one as he said his last question.

"We were coming back from our rounds just now, and we were talking about the Hogsmeade weekend. I made some silly remark, and she said we should go together. As a date," he paused, watching carefully for James's reaction to this. "I didn't know what to say when I suddenly blurted out I'd love to."

There was a very tense silence as three of their number waited for James Potter's response to that. His hazel eyes were slightly glazed over, and he stared at the wall behind Remus, slowly starting to nod his head.

"Well," he said.

"Well?" Remus questioned nervously.

"I can't believe Evans is breaking her own vow of never dating a Marauder," he laughed suddenly. His friends stared at him.

"Yes, but…" Remus hesitated before continuing. "Aren't you mad that I said yes?"

"Why should I? It's only a date," James replied with a dismissive and careless wave of his hand. "That's actually brilliant! She was the one to ask you out, so now whenever I ask her out she won't be able to say she'd never date a Marauder!"

"I'm beginning to think all of you lot's logics are twisted," Peter murmured from his four-post, exchanging a deeply confused look with Sirius.

"James, seriously," Remus insisted. "You don't want to kill me?"

"Of course not!" He said with another laugh, flinging his arm across Remus's shoulder. "If _you_ had asked her out I'd probably disown you, naturally. But it was her request, and you were caught off guard, so I understand. And like I said, it's only _one_ date."

"Oh. Right," Remus said faintly. He remained rooted to the same spot even after James went back to his four-post and started getting ready for bed.

Still in shock, he turned to Sirius, who only shrugged as if to say, "If he's all right with that, so am I."

Soon, the four boys were back to their routines of getting ready for bed and joking about something or another. Only Remus was still preoccupied. Now that he was no longer occupying his mind with the endless ways James would have cried how he was a traitor and then proceed to take his life, the werewolf was worried with something else entirely.

Why _had_ he agreed to go out with Lily? And most importantly, besides shocked, why was he thrilled that she had asked him?

* * *

"_Did you hear it?"_

"_What? Don't tell me we're already getting a new Professor for Defence? The year's barely started!"_

"_Of course not, don't be daft! What I meant is that Lily Evans asked out one of the Marauders!"_

"_She finally agreed to go out with Potter?"_

"_No, she asked out Remus Lupin instead!"_

"_And Potter didn't murder him?"_

"_No. Apparently, he's all for it. He's been awfully in a good mood all day."_

"_You don't suppose he's actually planning to kill them both tomorrow in Hogsmeade?"_

"_I don't think so. A friend of a friend overheard from Sirius Black himself that Potter's really supportive about the whole matter. Odd, huh?"_

"_Bizarre. This place really is a loony's bin."_

"_Well, of course. Take a look at our Headmaster."

* * *

_

"Hey."

Looking up from his Defence Against the Dark Arts essay, Remus found the brilliant green eyes of one Lily Evans. She grinned at him and silently claimed the chair opposite him. He smiled at her beside himself and put his work aside.

After the surprises of the previous night (and a whole day of gossips flying around), he had managed no direct contact with his fellow prefect in front of his friends. He didn't doubt James had meant what he'd said, but he thought best not to push his luck. And after all, he was still trying to figure out some things on his own. As the darkness of night claimed the castle once more, he had taken refugee on the library, away from everything else.

"Hey." He replied softly. "I see you've managed to find me."

"You can blame Peter for that one," she said as softly. "He told me you've been up here since before dinner."

"I have." He nodded his head. "I had some things to do." He gestured to several books and parchments scattered over the table, along inkbottles and quills.

"Always the studious one," she said with an intriguing smile.

"You're one to talk," he replied with a smirk. "What brought you here, Ms. Evans? Transfiguration? Arithmancy? I know it wasn't Charms."

"Why, you can manage to insult and flatter a girl at same time, Mr. Lupin," she said, narrowing her eyes playfully. "I didn't come to ask you any questions. I've come to take you to the kitchens."

"Really? Why?" He questioned, surprised at both her response and straight-forwardness.

"I've just said you've been here since before dinner, so I'd think that was obvious," she said, raising an eyebrow at him. "Come. I'm not taking no for an answer," she said, getting up and taking her wand in her hand. In one swift motion of her arm, she closed all his books, tucked all his material back neatly inside his bag and shrank it so it could fit the palm of her hand.

"You definitely don't need help in Charms or in the art of persuasion," he said with a mischievous gleam in his eyes as he also got up, taking his minute bag from her and putting it away in his pocket.

"I'll take that as a compliment, thank you," she smiled and walked towards the exit, waving amiably to Madam Pince as they passed her book-filled counter.

"You've been avoiding me today," she said, closing one eye as she glanced at him as they continued walking through the hallways of their school.

"I have not," he replied calmly, a slightly indignant tone in his voice. "I've just had a busy day, that's all."

"Liar," she laughed. "Don't worry, I'm not mad. I myself have been avoiding my so-called friends. They've concocted this ridiculous theory and won't stop pestering me about it. Can you believe I was actually awaken this morning with Bel interrogating me?"

"Really? What shall be this theory and Bel's interrogation about?" He turned curiously to her.

"Oh nothing worth listening, I assure you," she said rather dryly. "Everything all right with you and the boys, I assume?" Her green eyes seemed a little anxious from where he stood.

"Perfectly. Why shouldn't it be?" He replied in a natural tone. You know why you idiot, he admonished himself.

"Nothing, really," she said, smiling slightly to herself. Of course the girls were wrong, she said to herself, mentally rolling her eyes for even doubting it for a second. She decided to change the subject. "What was that essay you were writing when I walked in?"

They chatted animatedly all the way down to the kitchens. Once inside, the house-elves were very solicitous as for any request they'd make, and they took their time eating their supper, as Lily had called their rather ransacking. It wasn't till much time later that they walked back through the silent hallways towards Gryffindor Tower.

"If we weren't prefects, we'd be in much trouble now," Lily commented, as they turned around a corner, looking for any signs of Filch or other members of the staff.

"That's usually what you get when you decide to wreak havoc with a Marauder," Remus whispered softly.

"I hardly think a little trip to the kitchens constitutes havoc," she replied. "Besides, if you haven't skipped dinner, there would be no need for such a thing."

"It was your idea," he said, a lightly accusing tone in his voice. "I'm just stating a fact." He added, raising his hands in a 'peace' gesture as he caught sight of her glare.

"Right," she said, just as they came in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. She muttered the password, and they gained access to a nearly empty common room.

Standing in the middle of the circular room, they paused for a moment, side by side. She nodded towards a vacant couch by the fireplace, and they moved to sit down.

"I'm curious," he said quietly.

"Oh," she whispered. "What about?"

"You've mentioned to me, last year…" he hesitated a little, but felt compelled to continue under her inquisitive gaze. "It was after one of the prefect meetings, I was nervous, and I don't know how you could tell—"

"You kept glancing out the window," she interrupted him with a mysterious smile.

"I'm sorry?" He blinked his eyes at her.

"During the prefect meeting, you kept looking out the window," she said. "Several times, actually. I understand because it was a full moon, but I didn't think the others noticed."

"Oh." He whispered. "Anyhow, you noticed it, and you came to talk to me about…"

"Your furry little problem?" She questioned quietly.

"That's funny," he said, and she looked curiously at him. "That's exactly what James calls it too." He paused, watching as Lily's eyebrows rose in her forehead in surprise. "Well, we never really talked about it since then, and I was curious: when did you first know?"

"About your condition?" She said, and continued at his nod. "I suspected it since the end of our third year, but confirmed it first with that talk with you."

"Really? That long?" He was very surprised.

"Well, I was always good at Defence, and that year we studied Dark creatures. I started noticing some of your absences, and that triggered my detective mind," she shrugged slightly. "I hope you weren't mad with my meddling."

"Never," he said earnestly. "But why weren't you afraid?"

"There was no need," she said. "I didn't know you that well back then, but I knew you'd never hurt anyone intentionally. It wasn't in you. I understand it's part of you, but it would never _be_ you." She paused, holding his intense gaze. "I'm sorry, am I confusing you?"

"No," he said with a smile.

"Good," she sighed. "I never told anyone, in case you were wondering."

"I know," he said, nodding his head slightly. He continued as she looked curiously at him, "Because the first person you'd have told would be Marlene, I imagine, and as she already know, she'd have told me."

"Oh I see," she said, yawning slightly into her hand. "I guess we lost track of time. Everyone else has already gone to bed." She looked around their now empty common room.

"Yes, we should too," he said. He got up and, offering his hand to Lily, she also stood. They walked towards their respective staircases and paused just before the first step.

"Well, this was fun," she said with a grin. "Goodnight, Remus. Till our next date tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Lily," he replied, as she disappeared up the stairs.

Just as he reached the door to his dormitory, he paused with his hand on the handle, glancing back towards the common room. What did she mean with _next_ date?

* * *

A.N.: Oh, boys are so clueless sometimes! Nevertheless, Remus is so adorable (and James too)! Yes, this chapter was very… unpredictable, even for me. I had something else entirely planned to take place, but this came out when I put myself down to write it. I guess my love for Lily/Remus is as strong as the one for Lily/James. But, never fear! I have everything figured out (at least in my head I do). 

Oh and the concept of the two unnamed students gossiping in only lines is not mine. I first saw it in the story "Platonic Affection", and therefore I give total credit to its author, Holy Pancake.


	3. Take me to the streets

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general are merely a lend. The Beatles, obviously, don't belong to me either, and none of their creations. I only own the plotline and the original characters.

A.N.: I had major author's block to write this part, and it's mostly a filler chapter. I'm still not completely satisfied with it, but I didn't know what else to do to improve it. Also, Hogsmeade has not nearly enough shops for me, so I'm taking creative license about that.

Featuring: Lovely Lily, Peculiar Roommates, Adorable Remus, Standard Marauders, and Shopping in Hogsmeade.

* * *

**Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts **

**3. Take me to the streets**

Lily Evans had always known she was pretty. She wasn't conceited, but she knew people thought it of her. Ever since she was a little girl, she'd hear her aunties and her parents' friends gushing over her general appearance and many qualities. She'd inwardly roll her eyes to herself and reason they were obviously exaggerating. She thought she was just another green-eyed, redheaded girl with too much a fiery personality at times.

As she grew up, she started getting worried about it. Most people expected nothing else from her except the occasional arguments she got into and the fact that she had pleasant features. Her own mother expected her to go to school, graduate and find a nice young man to marry and have a family with. There was nothing more she wanted for her daughters.

For Rose Evans's surprise, her youngest daughter decided to rebel against her wishes. Lily never claimed she'd never marry or anything of the sort. She just wouldn't settle for being another pretty face in the crowd, or a trophy wife. She was determined to make a career out of her life. And so she immersed herself in her studies and came out as the top student of all her classes.

When she went to Hogwarts, things didn't change. The fact that she was of Muggle heritage, and that certain individuals were openly prejudiced against it, pushed her even further in her academic performances. She'd prove them all wrong. She was as capable a witch as all those pure-blooded snobs. So it was that she didn't worry terribly much about clothes, make-up, and other general affairs of the fashion world (Muggle nor magical). After all, her studies were much more important.

That, however, was not the case when she woke up on this particular Saturday morning. Lily spent a great portion of her morning worrying about what she'd wear to go to Hogsmeade. She didn't know why, but she was more than slightly nervous, and wanted nothing to go wrong.

The fact that her dear roommates were still disbelieving about the whole affair wasn't helping matters.

"I still can't believe it," Bel said for the umpteenth time that morning. She was sitting cross-legged on her four-post, shaking her head slowly from time to time and watching as Lily went through nearly every piece of clothing she owned.

"Neither do I, Bel. But darling you have to stop saying it," Marlene replied as she walked into the dormitory from their bathroom. She continued with a smirk, "It's getting rather tiresome and I'm not sure Lily isn't about to charm a pillow to smother you if you keep saying it all morning."

"If she doesn't, I will," they heard a muffled voice coming under the covers of Dawn's bed.

"Well, I told you there was nothing to worry about," Lily said evenly, discarding yet another jumper, tossing it onto her bed. "You let your overactive imaginations run wild about this all. Remus told me there is absolutely nothing wrong with him and the others."

A persistent Bel turned her brown eyes from her distressed friend with the clothes to the one crossing the room.

"She is right," Marlene confirmed, now rummaging through her own bedside cabinet. "I talked to them yesterday. My rather idiotic best friend laughed and said it didn't matter, as it was only one date. Sirius just shrugged and didn't know what else to say, but clearly he's not as sure about this."

Bel crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. She obviously wanted to say something on the lines that things were still going to blow up in the redhead's pretty face, but was rather wary of the prefect's superb wand work.

"And Remus…" Marlene continued after a small pause. "Well, he was rather nervous. But that's understandable."

Lily looked up at the mention of her date. She decided not to question Marlene as for why would it be understandable, though. She thought she didn't want to know the answer. And it was a small comfort to know he was also nervous. At least she felt she wasn't overreacting in her search for the perfect outfit.

"Lily," she heard again the muffled voice call from Dawn's bed, and a moment later, its occupant flipped the covers from over her head. "Why in Merlin's name are you going through all your wardrobe right now?"

"Because I don't know what to wear," she replied curtly, throwing another skirt in the pile she was making in her bed.

"Oh," Dawn replied, her voice still muffled from the pillow she was hugging. "Do you want any help?"

"Would you?" Lily stopped in her task, glancing at her roommate with great surprise.

"Me? Of course not," the blonde replied, waving her hand dismissively. "I'm not nearly lucid enough for that. I'd need a big cup of tea first. Coffee would be better, actually. Heather, go help her."

"Hmm?" At the mention of her name, the auburn-haired girl slightly moved her head up from the novel she was immersed. Heather had a habit of reading before going to bed and after waking up as well, especially on weekends when they didn't need to hurry for classes.

"Heather," Dawn called more sharply. "Lily. Clothes. Help."

"Sorry, what?" Hazel eyes looked up from the pages, dancing merrily. "Jonathan just found another clue to solve the murder!" She said this, and quickly turned back to the novel.

"Oh leave her be," Lily said, waving her wand around the mess that was her wardrobe now. Instants later, her clothes separated themselves in neatly folded stacks on top of her mattress. "I'll figure something myself. I don't want to bother you."

"Suit yourself," Dawn replied, promptly flipping the covers back over her head. "It's Saturday, and it's chilling. I'm not getting out of here till about lunch time." They heard her muffled voice declare.

The other girls (minus Heather, still too engrossed in her book to notice anything else) exchanged grins. They knew that if Dawn had her way they wouldn't have classes in the morning as soon as the weather started to get cold. Actually, she'd wish they could stay curled up in bed or by a warm fireplace for the whole day during the winter season, if possible.

It was some time later that Lily made her way to the Great Hall for a late breakfast, accompanied by Marlene and Bel, seeing as her other two roommates were not likely to get out of bed so soon. As they sat down at Gryffindor table, she noticed James Potter and Peter Pettigrew sitting at some seats down from them, both looking very sleepily. She wondered where the other Marauders were even as she took a sip of her tea.

She privately wondered if everything was indeed all right. She knew she was being silly, both Remus and Marlene had assured her things were as they usually were. She guessed Bel's insistence that something was bound to go wrong was finally getting to her.

After breakfast, Lily made her way back to the common room whereas her friends decided to go ahead to the village. They said they didn't want to intrude in her date, and make her even more nervous. The redhead smiled appreciatively and went up the stairs.

As she walked inside Gryffindor Tower, gaining access through the portrait hole, she noticed Remus and Sirius descending the stairs from the boys' dormitories. Both seemed to be as they normally were. But she noticed Sirius's light frown before it quickly disappeared when he saw her, and could see the tension in Remus's face and body language.

"Good morning, lovely Lily," Sirius said joyfully, throwing an arm across her shoulders and maintaining the other wrapped around Remus's rather tense figure.

"Good morning, Sirius," she replied, raising an eyebrow at him. She questioned Remus with her eyes, and he simply shrugged in response. "Good morning, Remus."

"Good morning." He showed the first traces of a smile at that. "I hope you already had breakfast, or else Padfoot just got in your way."

"No, I just came back, actually," she said, smiling herself now. "I forgot my cloak in my dorm, and it's rather chilly outside."

"Yes, it seems it snowed heavily the whole night," the werewolf commented.

"Well, isn't this nice?" Sirius said with a broad smile, looking from one to another and still with his arms around them. "Why don't you go fetch your cloak, Evans darling, while we wait for you? I'd do it myself, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed into the girls' dormitories."

"I wonder when you found that out," she arched another eyebrow at him. "Actually, I don't think I want to know." She added hurriedly, seeing his rather mischievous grin.

"Don't be silly," he said with a gleam in his grey eyes. "James found that out, our first year here when he wanted to talk to Marlene one morning and she wouldn't come down. You know how those two are."

"Yes," she said, gently extricating his arm from around her shoulders. "Well, I'll go see about that cloak now."

With that, she went up the stairs and opened the first door to her right. Dawn was still nowhere to be seen, but she could hear Heather singing in the shower. Smiling slightly to herself, she grabbed her cloak from atop her trunk and a leather pouch where she kept her wizarding money, stowing it away in a pocket of her robes.

She soon descended the stairs back to the common room, and found Remus waiting by the portrait hole, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Sirius was nowhere in sight.

"What happened to Sirius?" She questioned as she approached him.

"Oh I told him to go ahead," he said, the rather mischievous gleam now dancing in his eyes. "He went to find James and Peter. Anyway, are you ready to go to Hogsmeade?"

"Certainly," she smiled, and he opened the portrait hole, gesturing for her to go ahead. He followed her out, and after a few minutes walking along the corridors of the old castle, they found themselves in the open grounds of Hogwarts.

Even as they walked in silent companionship, she couldn't help but wonder why had she been so nervous before. This was so natural. This was Remus. She was used to talking to him, make it in classes, in rounds, or their regular coffee sessions. There was absolutely nothing to be nervous about, she soon realized.

He glanced at her, when one of her silent musings almost made her laugh aloud. She saw his questioning gaze, and said, "I'm sorry," she smiled. "I was just thinking about something silly that happened this morning."

"Oh really?" He said, her infectious smile making him smile as well.

"Yes," she said, rather sheepishly, lowering her head a little. "You'll think it awfully shallow, but I was rather nervous this morning. I didn't know what to wear, and it was absolutely driving me insane." She looked up, finding a surprised expression in his face. "Silly, right?"

"Not at all," he said after a moment, smiling again. "I was rather nervous too, actually." He paused for a moment, turning his head to look straight ahead. "You look very nice, by the way."

"Thanks. You too," she said, certain she was blushing at the moment, and not only because of the cold wind that had just picked up. Lily berated herself for a moment for acting like such a schoolgirl, but then she realized this wasn't such a bad thing. She rarely let herself behave like this anymore, she seemed to be acting more like "Lily the Prefect" than herself lately.

When they got to the village, they saw it was decorated for the season. It was the last Hogsmeade weekend before the Christmas break, and everyone was shopping for the holiday. That in addition to the cold weather outside made every establishment rather crowded.

Seeing as they'd already be visiting the various shops, they agreed to spend the day shopping for Christmas presents for their friends and families.

"Where shall we go first?" Remus questioned, wrapping his cloak more tightly around himself.

"Do you mind going to Gladrags? I wanted to buy something for my sister and the least magical the item the better, so I figured clothing should be quite safe," Lily replied.

"Of course. Let's go there. I should also probably buy my aunt Sophia a new cloak. We set hers on fire accidentally during Sirius's birthday prank last month," Remus replied, and they continued down the High Street towards the clothing boutique.

"And it wasn't the only one," the redhead replied, resisting the urge to roll her eyes at the memory. "But your aunt? Who are—Oh, of course! I keep forgetting Professor Celeste is your aunt."

"Yeah, and I'm already feeling a little bad because I dropped her class," Remus added, fidgeting slightly with the fastenings of his cloak.

"Well, I'm sure she can't blame you for that. We're studying for N.E.W.T.s now, we can only pick so many subjects. And you are taking six, that's quite enough," Lily said, quite sensibly. "Besides, you wouldn't have much to do with Astronomy, would you?"

"I guess not," he sighed. "While we're at it, I should just drop Potions, I don't even know what I'm doing there," he mumbled, kicking a frozen rock with his foot a little dejectedly.

"It's an important course to take, and you know it Remus," she said. "Though I understand with your heightened senses it must be… uncomfortable."

"That's a massive understatement," he countered. "But I do manage. And just to appease your mind, no, I'm not actually thinking of dropping it."

"Good." She smiled as they approached the shop. Pushing the front door, they walked in and went after their presents. There quite a few other shoppers but not so much that made it troublesome to move. They picked out a cloak for Professor Celeste, a nice jumper for Petunia from the Muggle section, and Lily also got a scarf for Dawn – she had ruined one of her favourites in an accident in Potions, and no spell would fix it.

They left the shop and went down to Dervish and Banges, located quite close to Gladrags. Lily wanted to see if they cold find an astronomical model of the galaxy to her mother (who was quite an Astronomy enthusiast). Luckily they did, and they soon followed to another shop across the street. The plaque read Morrigan's Melody Maker. Lily had never quite noticed it before, but as they entered, she saw various students and villagers among rows and rows of shelves.

"It's a record album shop," Remus explained. "It has Muggle and magical singers and groups. You can find some real gems, if you look for carefully. Haven't you ever come here?"

"No," she replied, a bit breathless with the pleasant surprise. She thought that after over three years she knew all of Hogsmeade's shops and secrets. "I hadn't even noticed it before. It's sort of hidden, don't you think, all the way down the High Street?"

"A little bit, yeah," he said. "I just came here for an album I know my dad was after. We'll leave quickly, if you want to go someplace else."

"Are you kidding me?" She said, still looking around quite marvelled. Remus thought she looked adorable, excited about a tiny shop with a low ceiling and dark corners, and filled with dusty records. "This is wonderful! I didn't think there was such a shop in Hogsmeade. You'll have a hard time dragging me from here. And you should refrain me from spending all my money at once as well."

"All right," he watched her, thoroughly bemused. "Then come this way, and help me find that album." He added, steering her gently through the aisles.

It turned out Lily really wasn't joking when she said he'd have a hard time dragging her from there. They found the album for Remus's father quickly enough – a collection of jazz songs with various great interpreters – and Lily also got the album Revolver from The Beatles.

"It's a present for Marlene," she explained. "She calls herself a fan and does not even have this one." She added with a smirk.

Of course, the redhead also wanted to buy half the shop and spend at least a week listening to songs ranging from classical to the newest pop and rock playing on the wireless. After a while, Remus successfully got her back to the streets with the promise that they'd come back another time.

They went to Honeydukes, where they bought sweets for their friends and families. Mrs. Flume was also serving hot chocolate and a variety of biscuits at a counter in the back of the store. They sat there for a while, commenting on their presents and where they should go next.

"What did you get for your mother?" Lily questioned curiously, peering at him over the rim of her cup.

"I bought her chocolate," he replied. "She loves Honeydukes and everything from here."

"Hmm," Lily murmured, taking a sip of her chocolate. "And so that's where your passion for sweets comes from? Your mother?"

He smiled quite fondly, though she couldn't say if it was at her or thinking of his mother. "Yeah," he said, a wistful quality in his voice. "I don't know if I ever told you, but she's a Healer. She insists I have chocolate every time after… you know. She says it has properties that actually help. I don't know, but she should as she's seen her fair share of patients and different afflictions. And now I'm supposedly addicted to it, as you say."

"I don't know if I should say addicted," she said. "But chocolate is quite an essential part of one Remus Lupin. And you're lucky, because you can't live without it, apparently. Imagine how much worse it would have been if you'd gotten sick of it."

"I believe Madam Pomfrey and my darling mom would still force me to eat it at least once every month," he said with a smile. He was silent for a few moments, and then said. "I was also thinking of getting her a book. For my mother," he clarified, as the redhead frowned confusedly at him. "She likes novels."

"You should ask Heather for reference, she has an infinitely ongoing list of favourites," she said with a grin. "Speaking of which, let's go to the bookstore. I've the perfect gift for her. She's been blabbing about this detective novel for weeks now."

"And how do you know no one else will get it for her?" He questioned.

"That's easy," Lily said calmly. "I called for it. The other girls at least know better than to buy it for her."

"You seem to take Christmas presents awfully seriously in your dorm," he shot her an odd glance, though a bemused one.

"Well, that's mostly my fault," she said a bit sheepishly, looking intently at the empty cup in front of her. "I just love the holiday and everything about it. And I don't see anything wrong with being thoughtful to your friends."

"It was merely a comment, Lily," he said a bit amused, clutching his cup in his hand with his long fingers. "Not criticism, so you don't have to be so defensive."

"I can't help it," she replied, raising an eyebrow at him. "You make me feel enormously self-conscious."

"Do I?" He said, his eyebrows disappearing underneath his fringe. "How come?"

"I honestly don't know," she said, blushing slightly and adamantly averting his gaze. "You just do."

They avoided a possibly uncomfortable moment as Remus questioned about Lily's present for her father. She smiled and seemed to breathe thankfully, and answered she'd gotten it some time ago by owl post order. She then explained her father was a bit of a wine expert and enthusiast, and she'd heard word of a renowned wizarding vineyard in France a couple of months ago.

"I made some questions here and there because I honestly don't know anything about it," Lily said. "I do hope he'll like the one I chose. Alice said he would, at least, and she's supposed to know about wine."

"Alice?" He asked.

"Oh, you know her," she said. "Marlene's cousin, Alice McMillan. She graduated last year."

"Of course," Remus nodded. "She's engaged to Frank Longbottom, right?"

"Yes. And I should also get them a present, now that I think about it," she said, almost absent-mindedly. "Oh I'm never buying all the presents I need! One day is clearly not enough for such a difficult and complicated task."

"Don't worry about it, Lily," he said reassuringly. "If at the end of the day there are still things you need, we can always come back tomorrow. It is a Hogsmeade weekend, and the village and all its shops will still be here."

"Yes, yes, of course," she said slowly. "You're absolutely right." She added with a smile.

In the end, Lily needn't worry so much for one day was time enough for both of them to purchase everything they wanted. They got back to the castle in time to dinner being served in the Great Hall, though none of their friends were present at the table.

They walked back to Gryffindor Tower, and sat on the couch by the fire. Other students were all over the common room, enjoying the Saturday night, but they seemed oblivious as they carried on chatting away. It was much time later that they looked around and realized they were about the last ones still up.

"We keep doing this," she said with a smirk. "Loosing track of time."

"It seems to be turning into a habit," he said with a small chuckle.

"It was sort of an endless day," she said, a bit pensive. "I'm sorry it wasn't much of a real date, I'm afraid. Shopping needs took over everything."

"You don't need to apologize," he said softly. "It was fun, and thanks to you I got some great advice on presents."

She smiled at him, and he seemed to remember something. Reaching inside his pocket, he got their shopping bags he had shrunken back in the village before they walked back to Hogwarts. Tapping each of the tiny bags with his wand, he turned them back to their normal sizes.

"Here," he said, handing her back about half the bags. "I put a feather-light charm on them, so you won't have trouble carrying it all to your dorm."

"Thank you," she said, her voice gaining a drowsy quality as the warmth of the fire seeped through them. "I guess it was a good day. We only missed drinks at the Three Broomsticks."

"Yeah," he said, gazing at her as though in a trance. Everything was so red, and warm, and calm. He seemed to ponder for a little while, and then he spoke again. "Listen, if you're not busy we can go back tomorrow."

"Really?" She said, her eyes widening a little in pleasant surprise, though her voice remained soft. "I'd love to. I only have to finish a couple of essays, but I should be free for a drink in the afternoon, or maybe dinner."

"All right. That's settled then," he said with a warm, dozy smile as he languidly came up to his feet. Extending a hand to the redhead, he helped her up as well. "But we should probably get to our dorms now, otherwise we'll end up falling asleep right here."

"I must agree on that," she said, gathering her shopping bags and walking towards the door leading to the staircase. "See you tomorrow then, Remus. And I promise there will be no more shopping," She said with a lazy wave of her hand.

He stood waving back slowly until she disappeared up the steps and then followed in the opposite direction. His roommates questioned him about his alleged date with Lily Evans as soon as he stepped foot into the dormitory. He had answered with the truth, that they'd Christmas shopped all afternoon and come back to have dinner in the castle. James looked smug for some reason, and Peter was surprised and a bit disappointed, saying that didn't sound much like a date. Sirius teased him about his romantic life (or lack thereof), but also seemed oddly relieved with the news.

He was too tired as it was so late that he didn't find the energy to ponder on what it all could possibly mean. He decided to think about it when he wasn't so sleepy, and so went quickly to bed and into a world of dreams.

Come the morning, he would wonder what in the world had led him to ask Lily for drinks at the Three Broomsticks, and why he hadn't mentioned it to his friends. Unfortunately, none of the answers he found were exactly satisfying, as they put him into another bigger dilemma altogether.

* * *

A.N.: Argh! I positively hated writing this chapter, but I was stuck and I had to write something. I still don't like how things turned out. It's a whole mess, it starts from Lily's point of view, and it ends with Remus's, and there are a lot of pointless things thrown there. And I had actually planned a bit more things to happen, but decided to put it in the next chapter. We'll see how it goes. I sure hope my muse returns, in the very least.

Anyway, I'm sorry for taking so long. The story itself is also moving with a slower pace that I'd imagined, but things will pick up soon enough. And yes, there's a considerable lack of humour in this chapter. Bloody author's block and depressive moods, I'm afraid. But I'll try to make it up in the next one, I promise.


	4. Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general is merely a lend.

Featuring: Oblivious James, Unabashed Sirius, Contemplative Marlene, Enchanting Lily, and Remus.

* * *

**Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts**

**4. Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered**

"Oi! Evans!"

Sighing tiredly, Lily closed her eyes for a moment and thought that yes, she should have gone to the library. Instead, she'd decided to come down to the Great Hall for breakfast, bringing along her books and essays. She figured most of the students didn't get up early on Sunday mornings, and those who did wouldn't bother her, so it was a perfect place to study a bit.

Obviously, she realised how wrong she had been when one James Potter came strolling into the Great Hall with a huge smile on his face.

"Yes, Potter?" She questioned a bit warily as he came to sit directly in front of her.

"I was just wondering—"

"No." She interrupted, eyes once again cast over her essay, as though she'd done talking to him.

James frowned and seemed a bit put out with her sharp interruption. "You don't even know what I was going to say." He protested.

"I'm sure it doesn't matter. My answer is still no." She replied, glancing for a moment back up to his face, and then turning back to her essay.

"Aw, Evans, that's sweet. I knew that _no_, you didn't hate me, and that _no_, you wouldn't mind if I asked you out," he said, with a smirk.

"Potter!" Lily snapped, quill gripped hard in her hand. "Must you annoy me so early in the morning?"

"But I was just wondering if you wanted to have a drink at the Three Broomsticks later on," he insisted, a slight discrepancy in his voice which indicated his annoyance at being turned down without not even making the proper invitation.

Green eyes still cast down, Lily smirked briefly to herself, thinking how ironic was his request. Instantly, she realised Remus hadn't told the others of their plans. Although she knew in some level it should have bothered her, it didn't. It was their little secret, and frankly, no one else's business.

"I'd actually love to, Potter." She said evenly, reaching for one of the books resting neatly in a stack next to the piece of parchment that was her Potions essay. "But I already made such plans." She glanced at him. "With someone else."

"Oh." His face, which had lit up with the hope that she'd accept his invitation, fell instantly; Lily thought it would be quite a comical sight if she didn't sense he wouldn't let things go so easily. "Two different dates in one weekend, huh?"

Of all the things… James clearly realised that was entirely the wrong thing to say once he studied her reaction. Her normally pale, creamy complexion rapidly acquired a red tinge, and though her eyes remained downcast, he sensed they would be ablaze with fury once she looked up at him.

Surprisingly enough, other than the interesting shade of pink she was turning, Lily didn't give any indicative of an approaching explosion when she turned to face him. "Do you have a problem with that, Potter? Somehow I don't think you'd worry about it if I'd accepted _your_ invitation." She said, her voice quite calm and controlled, though with a dangerous undertone. "Just remember not to be a hypocrite when you judge my behaviour and social, _personal_ life. After all, I wouldn't like to have to cite all of your romantic endeavours."

Apparently, the fiery redhead wasn't expecting a real answer, as she got up to her feet and gathering her belongings, left the Great Hall without sparing him another glance.

James watched her go in bafflement. How could she compare his agenda to hers? He had never gone out with two different girls at same time. He wasn't Padfoot! And what _was_ she doing, scheduling two different dates on the same weekend anyway? He could see she was doing that just to provoke him. After all, she had asked Remus, one of his best mates, on a date!

He was still mulling over such matters when two of his oldest friends joined him for breakfast. Sirius and Marlene took one look over the brooding Captain of the Gryffindor Team and, exchanging a look of their own, went to join him at the far end of the table. James startled a bit when they sat down.

"Good morning, James." Marlene almost felt the need to use a question mark at the end of her greeting as she glanced at him with slightly worried eyes.

From across the table, Sirius's words were drowned in by his huge yawn, even as he reached for a plate of toasts. As the other two continued to look pointedly at him, he repeated in a much clearer and more articulate manner. "What did you do to Evans now?"

"I didn't do anything," James replied rather indignantly. "I only asked her for drinks at the Three Broomsticks."

"Ah," Marlene said with a knowing voice as she poured coffee on three cups, seeing as James still hadn't gone about making himself a plate. "I wondered what would have her storming through the hallways so early in the morning. So naturally, she said no?" This time, Marlene used the question mark if only to appease James a bit.

"Naturally," he replied with a mildly scathing quality in his voice. "She said she already had plans. Do you know anything?" He turned with a would-have-been nonchalant expression to face her, as she handed him one of the cups.

"James," she started with a tone of infinite patience. "I've already said you're not taking advantage of my friendship with Lily to pry on her romantic affairs."

"So you admit there _are_ such affairs?" He interjected, not missing a beat.

"That's not the point." She said, rolling her blue eyes in annoyance. "I thought we'd agreed that I won't be used as your personal spy on Lily. If you want to learn something, you ask her. That's what normal people do."

"That's what you think," Sirius said from across the table, making quite a mess with toasts and jam. "In reality, everyone is interested in other people's lives. You telling Prongs of Evans's plans would only be like public service."

"You mean gossip," Marlene said placidly, extending the other cup to him. "I'm not doing that."

"Tough luck, Prongs." Sirius said, shrugging. "Want to follow her later on to see about that?"

"Sometimes I wonder why I bother with you two," James murmured, running a hand through his ever-messy hair. This time, however, he'd done it in a gesture of tiredness, not because he was showing off (as he was usually prone to).

"Please don't encourage him," Marlene said to Sirius with a slight grimace. "For you two, it might be fun to follow Lily around, but then I'll be the one dealing with her in one of her raging tempers. That's not exactly fun, you know."

"All right." Sirius said evenly raising his cup and gesturing with it at her. "Then tell us of her plans."

Marlene sighed tiredly, and James looked up with interest at that. It was usually a sign that she was giving in. "If you must know," the brunette said, "She hasn't mentioned any plans for today as far as I can remember. She might have made it up to get rid of James, or she simply didn't tell me."

"Get rid of me?" James repeated, this time with a distinctly indignant tone.

"Are you actually surprised she'd do that?" Marlene countered.

James huffed in a resentful manner. "Now that I think of it, no I'm not," he concluded. "You know, I'm starting to think she's having fun in turning me down. Before, she acted annoyed, but now she seems to be simply enjoying herself with coming with new ways to reject my invitations."

"There you go, Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, a wide gesture of his arm like triumphantly punching the air accompanying his words. "She's _finally_ warming up to you!"

Marlene merely rolled her eyes, slightly shaking her head in disbelief before the display. James stared deadpan at his friend's grinning face, finally cocking an eyebrow in acknowledge of his words. "You can't be serious," he said. "And don't you dare come up with a pun around your name!" He warned with a pointing finger at him.

Sirius's mature reply was to pout for a couple of seconds for not being able to pull the pun, but then he returned to his grin. "No, really, think of it!" He continued. "This is a sign! In no time, Evans will come around with a shameless declaration of undying love, you two will get together, get married, and ride off into the sunset… Can't you imagine it, Laney? We'll be their best man and maid of honour, naturally."

Despite herself, Marlene actually laughed in response, even though she sensed it probably wasn't a wise course to take seeing as James was physically closer to her and his wrath could easily befall her, and not Sirius who had actually made fun of him and his apparent predicament.

"Haha, very funny, Padfoot." James's dark expression and crossing arms indicated that yes, that was sarcasm in his voice. "I'll remember that when you come after me because the love of your life is a daft girl that refuses to see how awesome you two would be together!"

There were just too many things in that phrase that she could point as completely inaccurate (and even inane), but Marlene simply couldn't find the energy to bother the subsequent argument that it'd arouse. So instead, she just murmured "Oh please," into her cup, and rolled her eyes at James.

"Never happening, my dear Prongs," Sirius said, idly gesturing with a piece of toast in hand. "Because first of all I've never had any troubles in the romantic department and _if_ I had any troubles, I'd go after someone else… like Laney." He smiled at her. "She's far wiser than the both of us. Isn't that right, darling?"

"All right," Marlene replied, raising an eyebrow and placing her cup down. "What do you want?"

His partially innocent smile (for Sirius really couldn't be considered innocent) turning into a knowing smirk, he said, "Your Potions essay. Oh, and your notes from Charms, if you don't mind."

"Oh," James said, forgetting about his romantic failures for the moment. "Me too."

"_I_ don't know why I bother with you two," she replied, though in a resigned manner. "Fine. I'll get it to you later. But you'd better not copy it to the letter. Slughorn still thinks I'm one of his serious and dedicated students." She paused for a moment, musing over her words. "That sounded wrong. Didn't it?"

"It did?" Sirius's eyebrows disappeared under his fringe of dark hair, and then he looked at James. "I don't know. Prongs?"

"Perfectly all right with me," he said, the corners of his lips twitching a bit. "After all, you really aren't serious, Laney. You're… Laney."

"Hey!" Sirius protested, nearly threatening to throw a toast at him. "How come you get to pull puns around _my_ name, and I don't?"

"That's not what I meant," James rolled his eyes, more out of habit than in annoyance. "What I mean is that our lovely Marlene is almost like a honourable Marauder. But she's more in dear Moony's league, pretending to be serious about matters in front of teachers and other such figures."

"Oh all right," Sirius nodded in reply. "That you got right."

"I _definitely_ don't know why I bother," Marlene murmured into her cup again, wondering it for the umpteenth time ever since she'd been acquainted to James Potter and Sirius Black.

* * *

All in all, it had been a pleasant and uneventful day, Remus concluded. After all, he had only finished a couple of essays, written a few letters, reorganized his wardrobe (not that there was any real need for that), avoided his friends, and wandered about Hogsmeade thinking of Lily Evans and that he'd meet her later on for drinks. Absolutely and perfectly normal. Nothing wrong with that. They'd done this in many occasions. 

Of course, in other occasions they had been joined by other people, friends and colleagues and fellow prefects. And he had been open with his friends regarding his plans. And he hadn't been thinking about Lily that much or what to get her as a Christmas present. Nor been nervous about it.

Remus had spent the last quarter of the hour sitting at a table at the Three Broomsticks, watching the front doors as million of thoughts ran through his mind. He was apprehensive, and for many different reasons. However, once he spotted the fiery-red hair of Lily as she entered the room, his previously serious expression dissolved into a warm smile. And he stopped worrying.

"Hi." She said, approaching the table with a smile. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's okay. You're here now," he said, gesturing for her to sit down. Waving the landlady over, they ordered drinks and fell back into silence. "I didn't see you around since breakfast."

"Probably because I was hiding," she said with a bit of a grin. "Not from you." She hastened to explain. "It's just that sometimes I need to be alone. There's just too much… everything. People, work and expectations. And I felt I needed to be by myself to sort through some things."

"I think I can relate," he said quietly. "I've also been hiding in a way, I guess. Only I was walking around the village, and you were probably in some secretive location of the castle."

"Is there anything you still consider secretive in Hogwarts?" Lily asked with a faint smile, raising an eyebrow at him. "I thought you and the boys were supposed to be experts there. Rumour has it you know of every secret passageway in and out of the castle."

"I wonder if we'll ever find out who creates such rumours," he said, shaking his head slightly. She continued to look expectantly at him, so he continued. "I'm sorry, but I'm not at liberty to either deny or confirm your accusation."

"I wouldn't say accusation. More like curiosity," she said, tilting her head to one side. "And you don't have to be so defensive, Mr. Lupin. We're not figures of power here. Consider we left our badges back at school for tonight."

"Well, really?" Remus said with a grin. "But I always leave my badge behind, even at school. You never know when the perfect opportunity for a good prank will arise, and I'm not much a figure of power anyway." She gave him such a reproachful look in response that he sobered up immediately. "I'm only joking. Please don't report me." He added in mock fearfulness.

"You git," she said with a laugh, reaching across the table to slap him playfully in the arm.

"Hey! That hurt," he said, pouting slightly and making a show of rubbing the assaulted area.

"Good. Then you'll learn to take me seriously," she said with a smirk. He smiled back at her, and she continued. "What were you doing, walking round the village in this cold weather, anyway?"

"Yes, it was quite cold. Which is why every shop owner of Hogsmeade has seen a lot of me today," he said. "I was just looking round, seeing if I haven't forgotten about any presents. And thinking as well."

"Anything interesting?" She questioned.

"Presents? Or thoughts?" He asked in turn, placing an elbow on top of the wooden table and leaning his chin on his hand.

"Both, actually." She said, with an amused, sort of challenging smile. Remus gazed back into her vivid green eyes and wondered for a moment what he should tell her. If he should tell her.

Just then, Madam Rosmerta approached their table with their drinks and they broke the eye contact. The spell they seemed to be under also broke unexpectedly, and once they were left alone again, silence befell.

"Not really," he replied at last, his voice sounding hoarse. Clearing his throat a little, he continued in a lighter tone. "Well, not anything you haven't seen for yourself yesterday, at least."

"Oh all right, make fun of me and my Christmas shopping thing," she said, the corners of her mouth not really forming a pout, and neither a smile. She playfully glared at him for a moment, then decided to simply let it go and took a sip of her butterbeer.

"Why are you so obsessive of Christmas, really?" He said, a bemused sort of frown surfacing between his eyebrows as he watched her curiously.

"I just like it," she said with a bit of a shrug. "It's always been my favourite holiday. I always felt there was something magical about Christmas, with all the shining lights and presents delivered mysteriously in the middle of the night. Of course, that was when I was a very little girl." She smiled in remembrance. "Now it's about… family, I think. It's a chance to go back home, and be with them. It's rare, and precious." She paused, and took another sip of her butterbeer. "That's all I have to offer as an explanation."

Remus could only nod in response, also bringing his tankard of butterbeer up to his lips. For many students of Hogwarts, Christmas, in addition to being a period free of their usual responsibilities and obligations, was a time of conflict, especially now with the developing war. They wanted to get back to their homes and families, and yet the allure of the magical school, with its strange sense of independence and security and their friends was strong. He imagined for someone like Lily it was only harder, since her family represented a whole different world. One that would never really understand her magic, try as much as they would.

"Do you have any traditions?" He questioned once he reorganized his thoughts, and let her go through hers in silence.

"Just about the usual," she said, once more with a bright smile. "Grandmamma comes to stay with us, we'll put up the Christmas tree and the lights, Petunia and I will bicker and fight once or twice, I'll hope I don't accidentally do any magic and get expelled…" She trailed off with a playful grin. "It's quite amusing, I assure you."

"I don't doubt it," he said, clutching his tankard in hands as he pictured it all in his mind. "Does your grandmother know about Hogwarts?"

"Oh yes," Lily said with a small laugh. "We had to tell her, really. We couldn't keep that secret for too long. She's always been very interested in our lives, Petunia's and mine. We're her only grandchildren, and she's ever been our closest grandparent. The others had all died when we were very young. I don't think I ever got to meet my grandfather, actually."

"That's unfortunate," Remus said. "Though I think it's better to have one nice grandmother than possibly four horrible grandparents and other assorted hateful relatives." He added thoughtfully.

"I agree completely," she said with a rather wry smile. For a moment, she wondered if he was speaking from personal experience. She was curious, but at same time she didn't want to pry, so she made a note to get back to that some time later. "But Grandmamma is really wonderful. And she tells all these funny stories of grandpa and of when Mum was our age. And she's very supportive of my magic. Once she learned to embrace it, of course. That was a bit of a rough patch. But I guess she just saw I was still the same."

"Wonderful," he whispered softly. "I mean, that's great." He said, a bit flustered, raising his tankard to his lips again.

"Yes," she said with a dreamy voice. Then she continued, snapping her head up suddenly. "Oh, but look at this. I'm talking about myself, monopolizing the conversation. You shouldn't let me do that, Remus."

"I'll stop you if you ever get too full of yourself," he said with a grin, and nearly received another playful slap in the arm, but he was quicker this time and avoided it swiftly. "But I like to hear these things. Even if you do tend to ramble a little." He added with a gentle smile now.

"Really?" She asked, eyes a bit wide before learning this. She took a sip of her drink, and said. "Well, anything you want to know in particular? After all, I don't want to ramble again."

"I wouldn't say I have a specific question," he said, leaning his face against his hand again. "It's just interesting to learn such things about anyone, really. You can ramble away, if you'd like."

"Oh now you're making me feel self-conscious," she said, her cheeks slowly acquiring a rosy colouring. "Let's talk about you for a little. This way we'll be in even footing."

"Even footing? What, it's a competition?" He asked, amusedly raising an eyebrow.

"No." She said. "But it'd make me fell better if you shared as well."

"All right," he conceded with a smiled. "We go about the same things. Tree, lights, and all of that. Aunt Sophia stays with us since she isn't asked to stay in Hogwarts. I try helping with the cooking, but I feel more than often that I get in the way."

"You cook?" She questioned, her eyebrows raising themselves in surprise.

"A bit," he said with a bashful smile. "I try, at least. My father is the official chef of the family, because my mother can't cook for her life. Aunt Sophia is nearly as helpless, so they both try to stay clear from the kitchen domains, at least during the holiday. They're always trying something or another at all other times of the year, and it almost always ends in disaster." His eyes sparkled momentarily as he seemed to remember a special occurrence.

"That's great," Lily said earnestly. "You and your father cooking, I mean. I don't think my father could cook to save his life. I've never seen him try, at least."

"Well, someone had to take charge of such domestic affairs," Remus replied. "My mother never learned or mastered any domestic spells, for instance, because she was too used to house-elves when growing up. It was basically the same thing with Aunt Sophia. So it fell back to my father. Thankfully, he knew how to do things, as his parents were Muggles and they'd taught him. Later on, he learned how to do things with magic and taught my mother a bit, and it was much easier."

He had been distracting himself with a tiny crack on the wooden surface of the table, running his finger along it slowly as he told her all of this. Remus then looked up at Lily with a bit of a smile, and found her with a curious expression.

"How was it like?" She questioned suddenly. "I mean, having parents with such different backgrounds? I gather your mother was a pureblood from the mention of house-elves, and your father is Muggleborn. Was it any different?"

"I don't know if it was different," he said slowly. He seemed to struggle for a moment, pondering over this before he continued."It's always been rather a conflict to relate to my father's family, and after a while we sort of lost contact. There were too many differences. Though my grandfather was a great man. He died when I was little too." He paused for a moment, smiling sadly. "My mother's side of the family has never been really supportive of her choice in marriage, and after everything they also distanced themselves from us. Aunt Sophia was the only one who really stood by our side, and when I was about five years old, she moved into our house. At the time, she was in her fourth year in Hogwarts."

He was looking down once more when he finished, and Lily didn't need to ask why. She could hear what he hadn't said in between all those words. Remus never talked about it, but being bitten clearly had affected his life in so many ways. Not only was he shunned away by the society they lived in, but his family had also turned him down.

It was a bit expected, she realised after a moment of thoughtful consideration, though it didn't mean it was less horrible. But most Muggles wouldn't understand a person being magical. Being cursed is even worse. And his mother's family seemed to be the sort of old pureblood family that was proud of their lineage. Such a curse would only taint their name. Marlene had told her that some of the old families actually removed members that went against their established traditions. They weren't considered family anymore. She figured that's what had happened to Rhea and Sophia Celeste.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. Remus was surprised to hear her saying it, but was even more startled when she reached across the table and took his hands in hers. "I didn't mean to… I'm sorry." She repeated, feeling a bit helpless.

"Don't be," he said with a weak smile once he recovered from the momentary shock. "But thank you for listening." He added, squeezing her hands a little.

"Don't mention it," she said, smiling encouragingly at him. Glancing at something behind him for a moment, she added. "It looks like we're going to miss dinner."

Remus looked down at his wristwatch, and Lily swiftly disentangled their hands. "You're right," he said. "Why don't we do it here? Have dinner, I mean," he added quickly, looking back up at her face. Once more, he looked a bit flustered, only this time Lily noticed.

"Sure," she said, and though her face was relatively blank, it looked as though she was a mere step from cracking up. But Lily remained in total control of her facial expressions, as she continued evenly. "I don't think we'd be able to get back to the castle in time anyway. And then we'd have to resort to ransacking the kitchens again."

"Twice in a week," he replied. "We can't have that."

"Technically, the new week starts today," Lily retorted. "So it'd be like a fresh beginning."

"So now you're approving of ransacking the kitchens?" Remus said, raising an eyebrow.

"Since when I'm not?" She said, and then quickly shook her head. "Oh, forget it. This could go on forever. We'd better order now or we'll be famished before we can finish this rather inane debate."

Remus laughed in response and waved Madam Rosmerta over again. They spent nearly the next hour talking over dinner, alternating between quiet and heartfelt conversations, light and gentle teasing, and sharing humorous and outrageous anecdotes, which made them laugh so exuberantly the other patrons kept shooting them odd glances.

It had been much later when they left the Three Broomsticks and headed back to the castle. Lily was worried the front doors would've been locked, as it was way past curfew, but Remus knew for a fact that even if the doors were charmed locked, they could open it with a simple _alohomora_. In the end, they needn't have worried. They walked in swiftly through the front doors and quickly went up the stairs. It wouldn't do to run into Filch now.

"Even if we are prefects, I wouldn't put pass the man to try and give us detention," Remus whispered as they waited for one of the moving stairs to give them passage.

Lily let out a sigh. "The dangers of wreaking havoc with a Marauder indeed," she said, slightly shaking her head. He glanced at her and saw a very mischievous grin, which he returned.

They took off at a run when they reached the seventh floor corridor, and were chided slightly when they got to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Nevertheless, she gave them access once they said the password, and they walked into the common room both a bit breathless.

"Oh this is sad," Lily said, as she leaned against the wall with one hand for support. "I need to get in better shape if I can't run this distance without loosing my breath."

"I'd say you're in perfect shape," Remus whispered from beside her. "Only you didn't count the fact that we were laughing all the way down here. That really takes away your wind." He started walking towards the other side of the room, stopping in front of the door leading to the stairs to the girls' dormitories, and Lily followed him.

"Well, it's your fault. You had to cast _tarantallegra_ on that wretched cat patrolling the corridors!" As her voice became louder, Remus gently placed a hand over her mouth.

"Shhh," he whispered. "I just wanted to stop it from getting Filch to us. I never thought it'd have such an amusing by-product." He said, slowly taking his hand away and smiling roguishly.

"Well, yes," she said, the corners of her mouth also curving upwards. She leaned against the door and he did the same, as they continued gazing at each other. "So this was fun."

"It really was," he nodded slowly.

"We should do it more often," she added. "Maybe next time you can introduce me to your abilities in the culinary domain."

"Maybe," he agreed. "We'll have to see about that."

"Okay," she breathed, her voice barely a whisper.

Remus didn't know how it happened. He didn't see it coming. They were just close, too close. One moment, he was staring into the green orbs of her eyes, and the next he'd leaned forward (or had it been Lily?). He paused as their noses brushed against one another, and he noticed her head tilting just barely to one side. His eyes seemed to close of their own will, and his lips met hers.

It was a sweet and tender kiss. It was soft, warm, and gentle, with slow and tentative movements. It was short, and it seemed to last forever as a great number of feelings ran over them and their minds simply went blank for the moment.

They parted and he opened his eyes to see her with dreamy, glazed eyes and a slow, content smile playing on her lips. Though he couldn't see, he imagined his expression should be a very similar one right now.

"Well," she whispered. "Thank you for today, Remus. I guess I'll see you in the morning."

"Yeah," he said as he watched her turn and open the door. "Lily." She looked back at him just before closing the door again. "Good night."

She smiled and said, "Good night." And then she was gone.

He had turned and walked to the door opposite that'd lead to his dormitory when reality came crashing down upon him suddenly. He stopped just short of grabbing the door handle, petrified in his spot.

He had just kissed Lily. They had gone out on a real date and he had just proverbially kissed her goodnight. This girl he'd known for the past five years and that recently had had changing (and quite troubling) feelings for. The same girl his best friend was utterly in love with. And there he'd gone, taken her out and bloody _kissed_ her.

"Oh bloody Hell," he muttered, covering his face with a hand, slumping against the wooden door.

And whereas Lily went to sleep that night with a delighted smile still illuminating her face and dreams, Remus was thinking how _now_ James would certainly kill him.

* * *

A.N.: This is by far the longest chapter so far, and the one I admit to have had more fun writing. Apparently, my muse is back! And now that I look back, I actually like the last chapter too. 

Please, understand that no one in any circumstances is under a magical spell. The "bewitched" from the title should be interpreted in a completely different manner. And of course I don't expect Mrs. Norris to be over twenty years old, so the cat mentioned in this chapter is merely another feline. I just can't imagine Argus Filch without a patrolling cat. ;)

And please review! Sharing, as confessing, is good for the soul (or so I heard), and it'd make me tremendously happy. ;)


	5. Foolish Things

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The use of its characters, locations, and universe in general is merely a lend. I only own the plotline and the original characters.

Featuring: Distressed Lily, Troubled-and-quite-stupid Remus, and a bit of Musing Marlene.

* * *

**Five Days that Shocked Hogwarts**

**5. Foolish Things**

Come Monday morning, Lily found herself with very mixed feelings. Part of her was still thrilled and ecstatic with the developments of the previous evening, and rightly so. She could actually feel the smile on her face just mere moments after regaining consciousness, and though she knew she must look rather foolish, she was so happy about it she couldn't care less.

She felt like jumping up and doing a silly jig. But she refrained from doing so. Her roommates would probably ship her to the Hospital Wing after seeing it, fearing a magical affliction of sorts (or dementia, if all else failed). And so, Lily spent a morning free of Madam Pomfrey trying to figure out what was wrong with her. She contended herself with jumping a bit behind the closed door of the bathroom.

On the other hand, she was also a bit apprehensive. Things had happened rather quickly, and she didn't want anything to go wrong. This was something unheard of. She was supposed to be unlucky in the dating department. And this was a definite and major improvement.

Furthermore, she was aware of how close Remus was to the other boys, and though she believed in none of what Bel insisted on telling her, she couldn't help but worry about it also. What if she was wrong and Potter really had feelings for her. She didn't know if she shuddered or laughed at the very idea, but again did neither.

As if all that wasn't enough, she felt a need to tell someone, anyone what had happened the night before, but she couldn't bring herself to opening up to her friends. She didn't feel it was fair to burden Marlene with it. She was also a good friend to the boys, it would be a bit awkward. Bel would simply blow it all out of proportion (as usual) and make a big drama out of things. Lily felt one person was more than enough for that task, and she seemed to be doing it rather well.

As for the other girls, Heather would most likely be excited and supportive, whereas Dawn would make predictions of doom and disaster in the near future, and Lily definitely didn't need that right now.

As she got ready to descend to the Great Hall for breakfast, the redhead decided she could handle it all on her own and she wouldn't tell this to any one. There was no need in distressing herself with such matters so soon, after all. She still had to see Remus and how things really were between them.

Unfortunately, by the time of Wednesday evening, she positively knew Remus was avoiding her with a will. At first, she'd dismissed it for natural awkwardness after a date (kiss), and a busy schedule. It was the last week of term, and people were hurrying after deadlines, turning in papers, essays, and other whatnot of the academic variety, and studying for last-minute quizzes popping right, left and center.

It was strange, because they saw each other every day. They had at least two classes together each day, so it was impossible not to. But they sat quite apart in class, and she never found a chance to talk to him more than a mere greeting or rushed, idle comments on the weather and the amount of work they were doing. Even in Arithmancy, when they were the only Gryffindors sixth-years taking the course, along with Sirius Black. She just couldn't reach him.

She was hurt, disappointed, and a bit frantic about it, to be honest. More than ever she felt the need to talk to someone about it, but she was adamant about going to her roommates. If she went to them now, she'd have to face questions about why she hadn't told them of this before, and it would only complicate matters.

Lily briefly considered talking to one of her friends in the other Houses. She was very close to the Head Girl, Emmeline Vance, and her partner in Arithmancy was a very sensible girl too. But for as much as she trusted them and their judgement, she knew the gossip network of Hogwarts was terrifically efficient. And it wouldn't do to make such matters more public than they already were.

In an act of desperation, Lily sat on a secluded and quiet corner of the library and wrote a lengthy letter to Alice McMillan. She explained what had happened in as much detail as she possibly could without rambling too much, and asked for advice and opinion. Alice was sensible, insightful, and older, which meant more experienced in these matters. She was engaged, for Merlin's sake! Moreover, she was out of Hogwarts so it wouldn't be an issue in any way. Lily knew she corresponded regularly with Marlene, but there was no reason this should come up in a letter between the two cousins. And, naturally, she made sure to ask her not to mention it.

Even as she reread her final rendition of the letter (for of course she'd make a quick draft before), Lily realised how desperate and pathetic her words would sound. For a moment, she argued with herself that she was indeed desperate and pathetic, but in the end, her pride won over the argument. She figured she had to give herself a chance before taking such drastic measures.

She stowed the letter in the pocket of her robes and decided that if until Saturday when she was to return home for the Christmas break she still hadn't solved this situation, then she'd send an owl to Alice. She hoped she wouldn't have to resort to that. Lily never accepted failure easily.

She knew that by Saturday she'd either tear that letter to pieces or add a few more sheets of parchment to it. Because this Friday night was the last scheduled day in which she and Remus had to patrol the corridors after curfew. Alone. And together.

* * *

Remus usually considered himself an intelligent man. He was reasonable, smart, and by far the most cautious of the Marauders. His grades reflected this, and he didn't feel the need to boast about it like James and Sirius tended to. But right now he felt like a very, _very_ stupid man. 

He knew he was stupid because he'd done not only one thing to prove him so, but there was an entire succession of events as evidence. He had started by accepting to go out with Lily Evans, and then proceeded to asking her out in turn. Then he'd gone and simply kissed her (which promptly led to a sleepless night of panic and turmoil), and now he was doing his very best to ignore her.

He felt even more ashamed to be using the Marauder's Map for that very purpose. It usually stayed in either James's or Sirius's possessions, but their precious asset to mischief-making right now found residence in Remus Lupin's pocket during the last week of term.

Remus was a bit surprised that he hadn't asked James for the invisibility cloak so far. It would certainly help in his task.

Sighing deeply, he put aside such thoughts. He knew he was behaving like a coward (a _stupid_ coward), and that he had to talk to Lily. Eventually. After all, he couldn't well expect her to take this all lying down. She'd find him and demand explanations, sooner or later. While he made sure she wouldn't find him at the present time, he was also aware of their rounds on Friday night. He'd certainly have to talk to her then.

He really liked Lily. He thought she was lovely, clever, a wonderful girl. And she was also a great friend. But he knew there was just no way around it. James liked her and that was it. Period. He wasn't supposed to go after the girl his best friend fancied.

Although there were moments, when he'd catch himself off guard, that he'd think James couldn't really like Lily because he didn't know her enough. Of course, he fancied himself in love with her, but so did many other fellows (although the redhead was quite oblivious to that). All James knew about her was that she was pretty and smart, with witty and fiery comebacks more than often. He knew there was something about her that he liked. But was it enough?

Remus sighed once more, and this time ran a hand through his hair in frustration. He had no right to question James's feelings when he was not even sure of his own. He'd always liked Lily, there was no question about it. She was simply… likeable. But when had these feelings changed to something more? Had they changed at all? Or had it always been there?

He'd been asking himself those questions for most of his waking moments ever since Sunday evening, and in the end he always came back to the same point. He didn't know. He didn't have the answers. And it didn't matter because he wouldn't act on it. He wouldn't do anything.

Of course, a small voice in the back of his mind would always remind him that he'd already done something. He Had Kissed Her! And yes, the voice always seemed to use capital letters when stating it.

He added covering his face with his hands to his routine of sighing and running a hand through his hair. This was just one big mess. A mess that he'd made and that now he had to clean up.

Remus never thought he'd dread so much a night that hadn't a full moon.

* * *

Marlene wasn't the sort of girl to pry on other people's lives. She thought that everyone was entitled to a bit of privacy, just as she had secrets and issues she'd rather not discuss. In a place like Hogwarts, where students and staff lived together for nearly nine months every year, it was a hard thing to get indeed. Especially when gossip was something virtually everyone was more interested in than studies. 

Nonetheless, Marlene tried not to pay much attention whenever she'd hear a new piece of news. Of course, ever since the war had started back in her first year most people were concerned with the political games, killings and missing people portrayed across the pages of the _Daily_ _Prophet_ and other periodicals. The Board of Governors was rumoured to be gathering with an increased frequency, and there had come whispers of closing the school, but nothing seemed even remotely close to the truth. They had faith that Professor Dumbledore would keep the school running and standing like normally.

Apart from the affairs of the war and general behaviour of teenage wizards and witches, something had been bothering Marlene for the past week. Even though she didn't take part in the gossip network of Hogwarts for her own personal reasons, she liked to think she was observant enough to know what was going on regarding her close friends. And ever since Friday last she'd been proven wrong.

Everything had started with the rather shocking news Bel had dropped in her own melodramatic ways after abruptly waking up their entire dormitory. Lily Evans had asked Remus Lupin out on a date, and he'd said yes. Marlene never knew the redhead was interested in the assumed quiet, shy Marauder in a romantic manner, and she'd never guess he was either. At least she'd thought he'd have declined for James's sake.

The issue of James Potter aside for the moment, once she took the time to think over the matter Marlene realised it shouldn't have been something that unexpected. Lily and Remus were good friends and they'd been spending a lot of time together since the previous year, when they'd both become prefects. Although Remus at times was a shell it was so hard to guess what he was thinking or feeling, and Lily also had a strong sense of privacy, Marlene thought over a few select moments spent together and she'd started noticing a few small things. A glance, a blush, a laugh. And she knew she should have seen it sooner.

In a way, she supposed that even if she'd noticed all of this she still would have thought nothing would ever take place. She didn't think Lily would ever bring herself to ask him out or that he'd accept. She'd greatly underestimated them.

"They are Gryffindors after all, for Merlin's sake," she told herself, with an annoyed roll of the eyes.

Lily's brief recount of their date was a bit reassuring. They hadn't done anything she'd call traditional. Instead, it had all been innocent enough with an afternoon of shopping for presents and then dinner at the castle. But the next day was more worrisome.

She didn't know why (or how), but she knew they were both lying about their plans. James obviously thought Lily's date was with someone else, and she felt the urge to hit him up the head for that. After all, why would Lily go out with Remus one day and another completely different boy the next day? She'd certainly never given any evidence she was that kind of girl. Of course, Marlene had actually refrained from assaulting her thickheaded friend. She didn't want things to get worse, and she didn't know Lily hadn't really made that up to get rid of him.

When asked where she'd been on Sunday night, Lily would vaguely say she had been studying and finishing assignments. She never chose an exact location when giving her answer. The other girls didn't think anything odd about it. Lily would often disappear inside the library, empty classrooms, or about the grounds to be by herself. And the castle was fairly big so it could be possible.

On Monday morning, Marlene heard Sirius question Remus about the same thing when they were walking to Transfiguration. Now, Remus couldn't say he'd been in the castle because the boys would've known he was lying. She didn't know exactly how, but she knew they had their ways to see about that. And so Remus had said he'd been in Hogsmeade, finishing his Christmas shopping. And that had been it.

Once they were inside the classroom and waiting for Professor McGonagall, something happened that told Marlene they'd both been lying. For Lily walked in and greeted the three of them with a bright smile. And Remus purposefully had avoided her eyes.

As the day progressed and they went from class to class, Marlene kept observing the two of them. Remus hadn't done anything to indicate something was the matter. He was about his normal self for most of the time, sitting with the boys and making his trademark quiet remarks. Only when James, Sirius, and Peter would get immersed in all the work they had to finish and turn in before the end of the week that he'd get extremely introspective and something akin to a frown would surface between his eyebrows.

Lily, however, was another matter altogether. On Monday, she had been bright and shiny for most of the day, as when she'd first seen her that morning in Transfiguration. The next day, when they'd entered the Great Hall for dinner, Lily looked as though she wanted to murder someone. The girls wisely refrained from questioning about it, so their day was thankfully devoid of any corpses. When Marlene had caught up with her for their last class on Wednesday, Lily's mood once again had taken another turn and she now looked distinctly upset. Not so much in the angry, possibly about to take a physical outlet way, but in the worried and hurt sort of feeling.

After three days of such transparent emotions, Lily had simply woken up on Thursday morning and started acting as though nothing had ever happened. She was about her normal self again, although now she seemed to be rather forcibly blasé regarding Remus. Marlene thought the others hadn't noticed most of this because they were so wrapped up in their own affairs. But she had.

She had also seen that Remus seemed to be avoiding Lily. Marlene didn't know what had happened to bring this about, but if she were to take a guess she'd say it would all go back to Sunday evening and whatever had happened then. She thought that now she had evidence to support her theory that they had gone out that day. She just didn't know what to do about it.

She decided to wait until Saturday. She knew Lily and Remus had to patrol the corridors on Friday night, and with the developments of the week, something was bound to happen then. Marlene internally wished Remus good luck, because it certainly hadn't been wise to ignore Lily, whatever might have happened between them.

She also hoped things would still be salvageable when they were to board on the Hogwarts Express for the winter break. They were both being quite foolish, after all. Remus was probably avoiding her because of James and Lily wasn't taking this nicely (to say the least). It would be stupid to loose a friend over something like this.

At least, that's what she hoped this was all about, and not something possibly more serious.

* * *

It was a quarter past ten, and Lily resisted the urge to tap her foot on the floor in annoyance. Moments after the start of curfew at ten o'clock in the evening, she'd bid her friends goodnight and left a message to Remus saying she'd be in front of the Great Hall, waiting for him so they'd patrol the corridors. So far, there hasn't been a sign of him. 

After an entire week of being ignored, Lily was now quite irritated that his stupid behaviour was getting in the way of their work. She thought he'd at least be professional about this. For all she cared, he could continue not to talk to her. She just didn't want to be left alone when dealing with their duties.

Of course, once she stopped to think about it, she really wasn't okay if he never talked to her again. But right now she was more pissed off than hurt with his strange silent treatment. And he certainly wasn't getting any points for being late.

She looked up as he finally descended the stairs and came to stop in front of her. He did look entirely sheepish and apologetic.

"I'm sorry, Lily," he said quietly. "I know you don't want to hear any excuses. The boys were planning a bit of a prank for tomorrow, and I told them to let up. It took me a while to talk through to them, and I'm not sure I succeeded. Anyway, I'm sorry I kept you waiting."

Lily murmured something inaudible and started walking towards the corridor. Remus silently followed her, surveying her warily. Frankly, he didn't know what to expect of her after this week of indifferent treatment on his part.

Just when he thought they'd spend the entire evening patrolling the corridors in complete silence, Lily spoke up. "So now you're talking to me again?"

He winced as he heard her words. He knew she had every right for the bitterness in her voice. "I'm sorry," he said sheepishly. "I really was completely stupid about this all."

"I don't understand, Remus," she said, even as she opened the door of an empty classroom and glanced for a moment inside it, then turning back to face him. "I thought everything was all right. We had a good time over the weekend. I know I had a lot of fun. And then you do this." She gestured angrily with her hand, and closed the door with a snap.

"I'm sorry," he repeated, and winced again at his own helplessness. "I panicked. I didn't know what to do, and in the end I did the worse thing."

"You could've talked to me," she continued, turning her back to him and walking down the hallway. "I think I deserve a bit of explanation. I thought we were friends."

"We are," he said, following her up the stairs to the first floor. "It's just that… I wasn't expecting any of this. And then there's James…"

"Oh please," Lily said exasperatedly. "Why does everyone keep bringing James Potter into this? As far as I remember, I didn't ask Potter on a date, I asked you. And I kissed you. Because I like _you_!"

Remus stopped his ascent, and Lily paused at the top of the stairs when she saw he wasn't following her. "You what?" He asked faintly.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Given everything that's happened, I'd have thought we'd already established that," she blushed a bit, and continued to walk down the hallway, turning her back to him once more.

"But you see," Remus argued, as he continued to follow her. "This is where this is all wrong."

"You're saying it's wrong that I like you," she questioned disbelievingly, merely glancing back at him as she continued checking through the empty classroom as though automatically.

"Yes!" He exclaimed, his voice reverberating quite loudly in the silent and empty corridor. "I mean, no. It's just that…" He paused, taking a deep breath in. "He's my best friend, Lily."

"I get that, believe me," she said, a bit impatiently. "I'm sorry I put you in such a difficult position and…" Suddenly, she realised what she was saying and stopped abruptly. "No, actually, I'm not sorry at all. If you feel this strongly about this, you should have declined when I asked you. That would have been easier, don't you think?" She finished quite acidly.

"Yes, many people would say that would have been the logical thing to do," he murmured. "But many people would also tell you teenage boys are incredibly stupid."

"You can say that again," she said, and turned back on her heel, heading for the staircase.

"Lily?" He called, glancing with confusion from the end of the corridor to the opposite direction in which the redhead was going. "We didn't check those rooms."

"I don't care," she exclaimed, already ascending to the second floor. "You can check it if you want. I'm going upstairs."

Remus sighed, ran a hand through his hair and decided to follow her. Now that he had started talking to her again, he didn't want them to part without solving this situation.

He was about to reach for her arm to stop her when she pulled open a broom cupboard. Patrolling the corridors had become much of a habit by now, and though every now and then they did catch someone roaming the corridors after curfew, they didn't expect to find anyone right now when they were so caught up in their own problems.

Therefore, it was with great shock that they saw a couple stumble out and onto the floor right in front of their feet. From their tousled hairs and disarranged robes, there was no question what they had been doing. Remus glanced with eyebrows raised in surprise from Lily to the couple.

"All right," Lily said sharply, tapping her foot and crossing her arms. "Just tell me your names and Houses so we can see what we'll do about this."

Her tone indicated she wasn't about to accept any excuses. Most couples had learned to fear Lily Evans's voice when out in a night for romance, and this was the worse situation one would expect to be caught red-handed. Well, with the exception of the Astronomy Tower, perhaps.

The girl, who had been pinned to the ground when they fell out, fumbled with her robes even as she pushed the boy up, making him roll over onto his back. After a brief moment of straightening robes, hairs, and regaining their general composure, they put themselves up to their feet and faced the two Gryffindor prefects.

"Lily, Remus," the girl said calmly enough, though a bit breathless and blushing furiously to the roots of her fair hair.

Just then, Lily felt her eyes widen in surprise when she finally recognized the couple in front of her. For she and Remus had just caught the Head Boy and Girl snogging in a broom cupboard.

"Em?" She said quietly.

"Ahem," the boy next to her cleared his throat uncomfortably. Benjy Fenwick avoided their eyes as he shifted nervously from foot to foot. "Well, you're out patrolling, right? Be careful with Peeves, he was on the fourth floor corridor, I think."

"Yes," Emmeline Vance amended quickly, her face still quite red. "And the Bloody Baron was on the North Tower, last I heard. And I think I heard some rumour about something in the dungeons… We should check it, Benjy," she said, turning to the dark-haired boy next to her.

"Definitely, we'll do that," he said, glancing from her to the petrified pair of prefects standing in front of them. "Well, keep up the good work. Don't worry, we'll check the dungeons for you two."

"Yes, don't worry about it," Emmeline said, already pulling Benjy along with her down the corridor towards the stairs. "We'll be going now. Good night!"

In a few moments, they were gone, and Lily and Remus were still standing on the same spot in front of the open broom cupboard.

"Did that just really happen?" She finally questioned quite faintly, pointing vaguely with a hand to the area surrounding them.

"I think so," he said, his tone indicating he was quite amused, whereas Lily seemed simply shocked. "Well, I never thought something like that would happen. What are we supposed to do now?"

"I don't know," Lily slowly shook her head and closed the door of the broom cupboard. "I think I need to sit down. This whole castle is driving me insane."

"I didn't know Emmeline and Benjy were together," Remus said conversationally, unaware that Lily was now shuffling her feet towards the staircase slowly. "Did you?"

"No, I had no idea," she said tiredly, sitting down on the steps of the stair. "This was just bizarre. Why would they be snogging in a broom cupboard?"

"Well," Remus said slowly as he came to sit next to her. "I can really think of only one reason why anyone would volunteer to sit inside a cramped and dark broom cupboard with someone else."

"That's not what I meant," she said, rolling her eyes at him, playfully and unconsciously slapping his arm. "I would've expected more of a Ravenclaw and a Hufflepuff, it was quite foolish the way they were caught so easily. And they're Head Boy and Girl! If anything, they should know of someplace else more comfortable to meet."

Remus was amused that she sounded so indignant about the matter. "Some people like the excitement," he said quietly. "The possibility of being caught."

"This is just too much," Lily said, and she seemed not to have heard a word he'd said. Either that or she was purposefully ignoring his last comment. "Are we supposed to take points from their Houses? Should we give them detention?" She turned green and confused eyes to him.

"I think we can let this one go by," he said tentatively. "They seemed pretty embarrassed about it already. And I wouldn't like to get them into trouble when they helped us so many times before, to be honest."

"I think you're right," she said slowly. She spent a few moments nodding her head in silence, and then she abruptly got up. "Well, that's it then. I'm going to my dorm."

"Wait, what?" Remus asked, taken aback. "Aren't we patrolling the corridors anymore?"

"What's the point if we're not going to do it properly?" She said, shrugging. "I wouldn't be able to put anyone in detention today anyway. It's the last day before the Christmas break. And Em and Benjy shouldn't get special treatment just because they're Head Boy and Girl."

"So you're saying that because we're not giving them detention no one else will get one either?" He questioned a bit perplexed.

"It wouldn't be fair," Lily said. "And right now I've got a horrible headache. I don't care. You can patrol if you'd like. I'm going."

"All right. I'm coming with you," he said, quickly getting up and following her up the steps.

They walked back slowly and in silence to their common room. As they stepped inside the room through the portrait hole, Lily noticed only a few students were still up, some second years huddled together near the fireplace. They looked up at the pair of prefects and scrambled away to their dormitories almost instantly.

"Either we're not as popular as we thought, or they're scared of us." Remus said with a perplexed frown and a bemused quality in his voice. "Did you glare at them when we walked in, by any chance?"

"I might have," she mumbled in response, walking towards the now vacant sofa in front of the fire. "It's the headache. I'm not thinking straight."

"Are you okay?" Remus peered worriedly at her as he sat next to her.

"I'm fine. I just need to sleep," she said, but gave no indicative of going up to her room. She sighed heavily and covered her face with her hands.

"Are we okay?" He questioned quietly, watching her intently.

She lowered her hands and let her arms fall next to her. "I don't know," she finally said. "It's been a hard few days, Remus."

"I know, and I'm not looking for instant forgiveness, or even at all," he said. "It's just that… This whole thing happened because my friendship with James is very important to me. I won't tire you trying to explain something that I can't quite summon up in words. All I can say is that they all mean a lot to me."

"I know that," she whispered, closing her eyes forcefully. "I'll never quite understand that, but I know."

"But I'd really hate myself if you were to be mad at me forever," he continued. "Because your friendship is just as important to me."

Lily turned to face him and she saw he really meant that. She smiled a bit sadly at him and got up to her feet. "I can't promise anything." She said, and walked towards the staircase to the girls' dormitories.

He remained sitting there, watching the flickering flames in the fireplace for a moment. "But Remus," he heard her call, and looked up at where she stood by the door. "We are going to be okay." She smiled again, this time more genuinely, and then she was gone.

He stared at the closed door for a moment. Then he smiled a little, got up and went to his dormitory.

* * *

A.N.: Ok-ay. A bit dramatic, I know. Sappy, if you will. This was a bit of a weird chapter, I realise. Even so, I sort of like how things turned out. But trust me, this is not the end. There's still loads of things to come. I'm only getting started. ;) 

Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them immensely.


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